We are all in this together! / Nous sommes tous dans le même bateau!

Although Reviving the Islamic Spirit convention was about Islam, there was a session that gathered speakers from different religions. We had the opportunity to listen to Pastor Bob Roberts, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Imam Khalid Latif, Rabbi Batya Steinlauf and Dr William Vendley, under the theme “We are ALL in this together: An Abrahamic Alliance in Troubled Times”.

The concept of an “Abrahamic Alliance” comes from the idea that we are all descendants of Abraham, the father of Ismail and Isaac. One thing all of these speakers had in common is that they work in their respective community to establish an interfaith dialogue. It wasn’t a debate about who is right and who is wrong. We will always have different points of view regarding the religion. However the goal of this session was to gather us around the most important thing we should have in common: LOVE. 

Imam Khalid Latif had the opportunity to represent the Muslim community in New York during the visit of Pope Francis. He said that the pope offered his prayers to the people who died during the tragedy at Mecca this year. The pope is the highest representative of the Catholic Church. Did he have to talk about these Muslim people who died during the pilgrimage? Of course not. But he did so because he knows that all lives are equally valuable to God. This idea (of valuable life) was also demonstrated by the action of the Muslim bus passengers in Kenya, who refused to be separated from the Christians, in order to save them from Al-shabaab. There are so many similar stories that should be told in order to show that having different religions doesn’t mean being enemies.

Pastor Bob Roberts is an evangelical pastor from Texas. He told us that his community is a very conservative one that believes the world would be heaven if everyone believed and acted like them. He used to “fear” communists and Muslims until he got a chance to work with them. He has learned that in the same way he thinks that his religion is the best, other people also think that his community is part of the problem. Everybody hold his faith in high standards and it sometimes lead us to hold stereotypes against others. He said that after getting to know people from different religions and points of view, he can truly say that he loves Muslims and communists as much as he loves his fellow Christians. 

This confession was more impactful for me because I didn’t realize how much we can be discriminating others based on our preconceived ideas. I too, often act like that. We all judge other people based on their appearance, religion, or race without actually trying to know who they really are. 

As one of the speaker at the Ris2015 said, the true Muslim, Christian, Jew or any other believer, is the one who cares about his neighbor. Someone who do not have food while another one next door sleeps with an empty stomach. With all the injustices that are currently going on related to race and religion, we as true believers, should stand for what’s right no matter what religion we are in. The parable of the Good Samaritan in the bible shows the importance of caring for other people no matter their origins or faith. And I will end this article with this verse of the Quran… 

“Worship Allah and associate nothing with Him, and to parents do good, and to relatives, orphans, the needy, the near neighbor, the neighbor farther away, the companion at your side, the traveler, and those whom your right hands possess. Indeed, Allah does not like those who are self-deluding and boastful.” Surah An-Nisa (the women):36

Nous sommes tous dans le même bateau! 

Bien que la convention Reviving the Islamic Spirit portait essentiellement sur l’islam, il y a eu une session qui a réuni des guides de différentes religions. Nous avons eu l'occasion d'écouter le pasteur Bob Roberts, le cardinal Theodore McCarrick, l'imam Khalid Latif, Rabbi Batya Steinlauf et le Dr William Vendley, sous le thème «Nous sommes tous dans le même bateau: Une Alliance Abrahamique dans les Temps Difficiles".

Le concept d’une "Alliance Abrahamique» vient de l'idée que nous sommes tous les descendants d'Abraham, le père d'Ismail et Isaac. L’une des choses que tous ces intervenants ont en commun est qu'ils travaillent dans leur communauté respective pour établir un dialogue interreligieux. Ce ne fut pas un débat sur qui a raison et qui a tort. Nous aurons toujours différents points de vue sur la religion. Cependant l'objectif de cette session était de nous réunir autour de la chose la plus importante que nous devrions avoir en commun: L’AMOUR.

L’imam Khalid Latif a eu l'opportunité de représenter la communauté musulmane à New York lors de la visite du Pape François. Il a dit que le pape a porté en prières les victimes de la tragédie qui a eu lieu à la Mecque cette année. Comme on le sait tout, le pape est le plus haut représentant de l'Eglise catholique. Avait-il besoin de parler de ces musulmans qui sont morts pendant le pèlerinage? Bien sûr que non. Mais il l'a fait parce qu'il sait que toutes les vies ont la même valeur auprès de Dieu. Cette idée (de la préciosité de la vie) est la même qui a poussé des musulmans à protéger des chrétiens dans un bus attaqué par le groupe Al-Shabaab. Il y a tellement d'histoires similaires qui doivent être partagées afin que nous comprenions qu’avoir des religions différentes ne fait pas de nous des ennemis. 

Pasteur Bob Roberts est un pasteur évangélique d’une église au Texas. Il nous a dit que sa communauté est très conservatrice et croit que le monde serait parfait si tout le monde croyait et agissait comme eux. Il a rajouté qu’il « craignait » les communistes et les musulmans jusqu'à ce qu'il ait la chance de travailler avec eux. Il a appris que de la même manière qu'il pense que sa religion est la meilleure, d'autres pensent aussi que sa communauté fait partie du problème. Chacun met sa foi sur un piédestal et cela nous conduit parfois à avoir des stéréotypes sur les autres. D’après le pasteur Bob Roberts, après avoir appris à connaître des gens de religions et points de vue différents, il peut aujourd’hui affirmer qu’il aime les musulmans et les communistes autant qu'il aime ses confrères chrétiens.

Cette confession a été d’autant plus percutante pour moi parce que j’ai réalisé à quel point nous pouvons faire preuve de discrimination en nous basons sur des idées préconçues. Moi aussi j’agis souvent de la même manière. Il arrive que nous jugions les autres en fonction de leur apparence, de leur religion ou de leur race sans vraiment essayer de savoir qui ils sont réellement.

Comme l'un des speakers de la convention l’a signifié, le vrai musulman, chrétien, juif ou tout autre croyant, est celui qui se soucie de son prochain. Quelqu'un qui ne laisse pas dormir son voisin le ventre vide alors qu’il possède à manger. Avec toutes les injustices raciales et religieuses actuellement en cours, nous devons en tant que croyants nous tenir du côté de la justice peu importe la religion ou la race de l’opprimé. La parabole du Bon Samaritain dans la Bible montre l'importance de prendre soin des autres peu importe leurs origines ou leur foi. Et je terminerai cet article avec ce verset du Coran ...

«Adorez Dieu et ne Lui donnez aucun associé. Agissez avec bonté envers (vos) père et mère, les proches, les orphelins, les pauvres, le proche voisin, le voisin lointain, le collègue et le voyageur, et les esclaves en votre possession, car Allah n’aime pas, en vérité, le présomptueux, l’arrogant. » Sourate An-Nisa (les femmes), 36.

Let's say something nice !

I have a friend – It seems like you will hear a lot about my friends on this blog. – So as I said I have a friend that I admire because no matter the kind of troubles he may be going through he will always lend an attentive ear to those in needs. This is the kind of friend we all want in our lives but we, ourselves, are we this kind of friend?

I am taking an online course of interpersonal communication. I was going through the second topic of the class and I learned more about the notion of self-concept. Basically, self-concept is defined as a relatively stable set of perceptions that, as individuals we hold about ourselves. The subject is really broad but what I want to talk about today is the influence we have on others’ self-concept. We have high expectations from people while we forget that others also wish we support them. Words are powerful but more than anything they are irretrievable. What we say to people may hurt them in the same way that theirs can hurt us.

You know these little jokes we make with our friends, brothers, sisters and other relatives? Although it seems like we tease each other in a friendly way, our remarks can actually create a lot of damages.  We need to know that self-concept is shaped by the comments and judgments of those around us, especially when we are young. We pick up signals from people in terms of our self-worth. They can make you feel loved, valued, and capable. Or, they can send messages that imply that you are of little or no value, inadequate and rejected. Our self-concept is a product of messages we receive throughout our life.

So while reading this chapter, I was thinking about the times someone’s words broke me down. I may have not expressed it, showed that I was hurt but it always leaves something. Of course it was then my choice to decide whether or not these words define me or to prove them wrong. The way we will handle people’s remarks will determine what we will think about ourselves because at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is what we believe.

Anyway, during my reading, I was prompt to blame others for what they told me. However, I suddenly realized that some people also probably think about what I have told them once or many times. I tried to think of what I could have say to someone that could have hurt him or her. It is difficult to evaluate the impact of other’s on our lives. But in the same way, we would like people to be supportive, they also want us to help them shaping healthy self-concept.

If you haven’t heard yet about Ms. Lopez of Mott Hall Bridges Academy, I invite you to learn more about her role in her scholars’ lives. We should all aspire to be a person that inspires. A person that shows to others that they are valuable. Ms. Lopez is that kind of person and by extension I invite you to discover the Facebook page Human of New York if you haven't yet.

Anyone can make a change in someone’s life. It ranges from the friend, the older brother, the parent to the teacher… As  Confucius said, “What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.” I am definitely not an example but I will try to apply the “If you have nothing nice to say, then don’t say anything at all.” I share with you my favorite song of the moment and I wish that I will be the kind of friend whispering “Don’t give up, you are smart, you are beautiful, you are worthy, you are great.”

I just read Purple Hibiscus !

While reading an excellent book, I always wish I didn’t read it just to be able to do it again. I am not crazy, I just wish I could rediscover the same feelings, feel the same first time sensation... This is exactly what recently happened while I was reading Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Miles away from my continent, I was very pleased to discover similarities between different countries of Africa. With a big smile on my face, I was remembering some scenes at the village, the church, in family… Nigeria was suddenly not so much different from Ivory Coast.

Purple Hibiscus is a story told by Kambili a fifteen-year old teenager oppressed by her fanatically religious father. In Kambili’s home, there is no place for laughs. Although her father is a well-respected and generous man in his community, he is also violent and absurdly severe with his own family. As Chimamanda said about him, “there are lot of people who are kind and generous and thoughtful, but in the name of religion, do all sorts of awful things.”

Purple Hibiscus evokes religion, love, family but also the politics in Africa. My favorite characters are Amaka and her younger brother Obiora. On one side, there is a girl so tied to her African culture that she refused to get confirmed because she was supposed to choose an English name. On the other side, there is a boy who seems more mature than his age and who dreams about United States because of the bad political climate in his country.

I particularly loved the typically African names, the common African expressions and the traditions you can guess it…typically African. I just wanted to go back in my village and learn more about my story from the elders.

I hardly tried not to give you an extended summary of the novel nor did I wanted to show you how much I actually loved it. I believe that when a book received too much appreciation, the reader tries to discover it as he has been told about instead of having his own feelings.

Therefore please guys, discover Purple Hibiscus by yourself, or through Kambili’s eyes.

Picture: The Guardian 

NB: For Beyonce’s fans, Chimamanda is the voice you hear in the song flawless. I hope this will triggers your desire to read her book. 

French Review

AyeLive...first steps

I think like a lot of people that it might be interesting to have a career in what you love. I have the example of people who seem to have more fun than actually working. Cyriac Gbogou the free jumper in one of my reference. He does an excellent job but he is especially enjoying himself while also being helpful in his community. I also discovered the blog of Israel Yoroba. I already heard his name but I recently fell for his writings. There are lot of people like them who inspire me to pursue my dreams.

Successful people always recommend to work in a domain we are passionate about.  They say “Do what you love”. Some people think they can’t afford to live through their passion. They pursue a career in something they don’t like while the passion remains a hobby. For me the difficulty is not to make profit in what I love, I am actually struggling to identify what I love enough to follow it as my career path.

I started to love reading and writing at a young age. I actually fell in love with writing after the summary of a novel my mum made for us. “Les erreurs de Maman” by Jocellin Kalla, this is the novel that triggered my love for books. This love for reading led to a desire to create my own stories. I wanted to create emotions, to surprise the readers and then I started to write too. However I have never felt like this was the career I wanted to have. Maybe I was just afraid of the criticism people would have on my writings. Maybe I just didn’t trust myself to have enough inspiration, imagination to pursue a career in writing. Whatever, the result is the same. I am still trying to find what I love.

This is the reason why I have decided to open this blog. I know that a lot of young people like me have no clue in what their real passions are. I made a promise to myself. I decided that I will try to do new things permanently. This includes meeting new people, discovering new places and experiencing new activities. I want to share every single detail, experience that can help me to better understand myself. I hope this will be a grateful journey for the readers too. Here is why Ayelive was born.

French version